Technological advancements we’ve made as a people are astounding. The internet changed everything, as have breakthroughs in biological & mechanical engineering. We can now soar through the sky sipping spirits, checking our vitals and swiping potential mates. But, while we’re grateful for faster flights and smarter phones, they’re no longer disruptive. We’ve learned to expect, and even dread, inevitable “upgrades.” Real disruption will now materialize through how organizations are owned and structured.
If web2 transformed what a business owns, web3 will disrupt who owns the b̶u̶s̶i̶n̶e̶s̶s̶ DAO. I’m getting ahead of myself now…I discovered DAOs just last year, and am understanding web3 (or at least trying to) more each day. Below are some great resources if you’d like to do the same, but the remainder of this article won’t assume that you do.
- Web3 is a decentralized online ecosystem based on the blockchain.
- A DAO, or Decentralized Autonomous Organization, is a voluntary association where members come together toward common goals, [often] supported by a token model, incentives, and governance.
Don’t Work Together, Work for Us
Cooperative structures date back as far as 10,000 BCE. Western models formalized in the 1800s, and endless interpretations exist around the world today. While specifics and values vary, a cooperative can be simply defined as “people organized around a common goal.” Seems pretty chill, right? Something we could all get behind, assuming your cooperative doesn’t harm others? Wrong. Well, at least for the powers that be…
Cooperative organization decentralizes ownership. Medieval monarchies or corporate overlords — potato, patata — lose control as people collaborate directly with each other. This isn’t good for business, and why such efforts are continuously crushed. While centralized power doesn’t always corrupt (or does it?), this should at minimum make you wonder where we’d be today if decentralized organizations were free to grow. Let’s come back to cooperatives though.
The Carnal Currency
Real relationships are built on trust. Without it, friendships and partnerships are dead on arrival. Yet people take trust lightly. From unintentional forgetfulness, to full-on infidelity, we deceive each other on the daily. This is why we keep our circles small, and fetishize phrases like “trust no one.”
It’s far easier to trust a small tribe than a corporate conglomerate of unknown individuals. So, we develop metrics and organizational structures to mimic trust. Most are top-down, and few actually instill trust, but we pretend that it’s there because without it, we’re stuck. If I can trust that you’ll pay me, then you can trust that I’ll do as you say.
But this paradigm extends into our actions even after we’re paid. How many people (especially men) have you heard say something like “I’ll take care of my family but fuck the rest.” It runs so deep that they’ll literally do just that — deceive & sell poison to others in order to earn. We justify dishonesty towards others by the need to take care of our own; a self-propagating cycle of distrust.
Another pattern exists for those that never had a tribe. Whether someone is truly abandoned or simply misunderstood, society typically presents two paths: sink to the bottom or go after “what’s yours.” From the slum-kid turned business magnate, or outcast gone pop star, we romanticize the come up story…the “American” dream. Working hard is undoubtedly honorable, but our celebration stops too soon. If one’s newfound power isn’t used to eradicate the same attitudes they were disenfranchised by, what is the Real value in their rise? I’m not against enjoying the fruits of one’s labor, but isn’t it time we hang up on hypocrisy?
Trust Through Technology
You’re probably thinking that this random dude on the internet is telling you to trust everyone. Kumbaya. In a future world, yes, but I know we’re far from it. The future we have now is built on technology, and for the record, I’ve only just begun embracing it. Fear of sacrificing human connection was always my argument against tech. That is, until I learned more about the blockchain.
Now I know that word is a tab closer for many, but I promise that we’re not about to dissect the technology itself. What excites me about the blockchain is what it can do for people. Real world collaboration. You no longer have to believe that I’ll follow through with my side of the bargain if our agreement has been verified independently by others, with pre-programmed consequences for when I do/don’t.
Couple this with everlasting public records, and our days of selling snake oil are over. We’ll create smart contracts for everything from international infrastructure projects, to two people agreeing on who takes out the trash. We no longer have to work for the man, because we can trust in each other and collaborate directly. Which brings us back to cooperatives…
Redefining Cooperatives
A cooperative is more formally defined as “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.” I think we’ve talked enough about trust, so let’s wrap things up with ownership and governance.
We’ve become overly comfortable with the concept of few controlling many. This brings us back to kings and corporations. Even in “public” companies, the majority of ownership is concentrated in a few hands. But what if, instead, the individuals who used the product or services were the owners? The reality is, this has been happening for centuries. From agriculture to housing, cooperatives do just that.
But, what didn’t exist until now was the technology to track inputs & outputs. The blockchain, and more specifically cryptocurrencies, allow for this like never before. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are essentially cooperatives built on the blockchain. And while they’re still wrestling typical organizational issues like leadership and incentives, these groups have issued new currencies, formalized distributed voting and purchased land & multimillion dollar artwork, in less time than we’ve been wearing masks.
It’s Time to Value People Over Profit
I’ll leave you now with two things. First, the seven cooperative principles as defined by the International Cooperative Alliance:
- Voluntary and Open Membership
- Democratic Member Control
- Member Economic Participation
- Autonomy and Independence
- Education, Training, and Information
- Cooperation among Cooperatives
- Concern for Community
And second, a question: if Cooperatives are arguably more resilient & sustainable than other organizations, and we finally have the means to govern and grow them, why would we toy with any other structure?
